A business mission from the Republic of China is on the island to study the Dominican market. The mission visited the Listin Diario newspaper and said they are interested in investing in banking, power, ports, telecommunications and the construction of highways and railroads, according to Liu Linlin, director of the Department for American Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce of China. He sees the Dominican Republic as the Caribbean nation with the greatest economic strength and ripest investment climate. While here, the Chinese business group is being assisted by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. They feel that establishing formal diplomatic relations would assist their efforts at developing trade and investment between both countries. “We believe there are many business and investment opportunities in this country. The market is very open and a sample of that is the large number of international firms doing business here,” said Linlin. According to the Chinese government, trade between the two countries was more than US$100 million last year. Trade from January-September 2003 stands at US$96 million, for a 20% increase over the previous year. He said that three Chinese firms lead the way in opening the Chinese market here. These are Corporation Zhenhua from Shanghai, which sells equipment for ports, particularly cranes for the Caucedo Port; the Tangshan construction materials corporation, which is participating in the construction of a cement factory in San Cristobal; and the China Corporation of Import and Export, which signed a memorandum for development of a US$90-million project in the northwest.